Machine for making bats of fibrous material



April 23, 1935. P. T.'JACKSO N 1,999,169

' MACHINE FOR MAKING BATS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed Dec. 3l, 1932 a sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY v A ril 23,1935. P.'T. JACKSON I 9 momma FORIMAKING BATSOF FIBRCUS MATERIAL Filed Deg. 31, 1952 5 Shets-Sheet 2 INI EIVTOR ATTORNEY April 23, 1935. JACKSON 1,999,169

' mcnmn FOR mxme sus 0F msaous MATERIAL Filed Dec. 51', 1932 s uests-sham 3 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 23, 1935 UNITED STATES MACHINE FOR MAKING BATS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL Patrick T. Jackson, Cambridge, Mass.,

American Reenforced assignor to Paper Company, Attleboro, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application December 31, 1932, Serial No. 649,730

4 Claims.

' This invention relates to bats of fibrous material and the machine for making them, and is more particularly concerned with the formation of composite bats in which the fibres of the bats are reenforced.

It is well known that fibrous material formed into a web or sheet has little or no resistance to rupture and even where such fibrous sheet is formed into a plurality of layers, it still has little or no strength or resistance to rupturing strains. This is observable in cases where the bat is employed in connection with springs in the formation of a mattress and in such cases the springs soon penetrate into the fibrous mass and render the mattress unserviceable.

In its broader aspect the present invention contemplates the formation of a bat of fibrous.

material so associated with reenforcing filaments that the composite bat, as a whole, shall possess inherent qualities of strength, durability, and

resistance to disturbing strains, and the completed bat presents a substantially compact'unit. The fibrous material composing the bat proper may be produced from any suitable fibre which'can be carded or formed into a sheet or web, while the reenforcing filaments may be associated therewith in a variety of ways calculated to impart the desired strength and durability, as by incorporation within or on the sheet or web. Such reeniorcing filaments may take various forms, but good practical results are secured by unspun fibres of relatively longer staple than the fibres composing the sheet or web although spun yarn, strings, or the like may be used.

In the present instance, the invention will be described in connection with a web or sheet of cotton fibre, as it comes from the garnet or similar machine, but as hereinbefore stated, such web or sheet may be composed of any fibre which lends itself to treatment by carding, garnet, or other operation in the productionof a sheet or web of unspun fibre. Similarly, the reenforcing filaments will be described as of the unspun long staple type, which are taken from a source of supply and elongated or attenuated as they are delivered for incorporation with the fibrous sheet or web to be reenforced, but while this presents a good practical way of combining the reenforcing filaments to the sheet or web, the filaments may be previously prepared and delivered directly to-' the sheet or web from a; roll or other supply.

The invention and novel features thereof will best be made clear from the following description and accompanying drawings of one practical means for carrying the invention into effect.

In the dawings:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofsa machine containing the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the cotton sheet and reenforcing fibres as they appear during the formation of the composite bat;

Fig. 3 shows a section, parts broken away, of a composite reenforced bat containing the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the overlapping relation of the elements composing the bat with parts broken away, to indicate that the reenforcing filaments in adjacent layers of the reenforcements extend at an angle to each other and substantially transversely of the longitudinal dimensions of the bat;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing more particularly the relation of the reenforcing filaments or fibres and their application to the fibrous cotton sheet; and

Fig. 6 is a side elevation in diagramatic form showing the receiving conveyor and the combined cotton sheet and reenforcing'filaments being laid thereon.

The sheet or web of fibrous material may be produced in any of the well known machines for that purpose and in the present instance of the invention the sheet or web I isshown as being delivered from a garnet machine 2 and stripped from the delivering roll-3 of the garnet by the dofier 4. The sheet or fieecy web I as it comes from the garnet machine is delivered upon the endless belt 5 which is appropriately driven to carry the cotton sheet of fibrous material to a conveyor 6.

The conveyor 6 in the present instance consists of an endless belt passing around the rollers I and '8 andone of said rollers at least is driven to carry the fibrous sheet away from the belt 5 as it is delivered thereon.

Pivotally mounted on an axis 9 is a camel back comprising the side frames l0 and H which are pivotally connected at'their adjoining ends at 12 to permit the camel back to be moved in a path to form superposed layers of material as indicated in Figs. 1 and 5.

As a means for carrying the fibrous sheet and perforce the reenforcing filaments, the camel back is provided with belts l3 and M which serve to feed the material and form superposed layers thereof as will further appear.

- In accordance with the present invention the sheet or fleecy web is to be reenforced and strengthened by reenforcing filaments or fibres of long staple which are taken from a suitable source of supply either in the form of rovings or otherwise, as indicated at l5. The reenforcing filaments or fibres pass between the feed rolls l6 and I1 whereby the fibrous mass is moved in a direction towards the fibrous sheet to be reenforced.

It is desirable that the reenforcing filaments shall be drawn out or attenuated and as one means to thisend the present invention provides a series of comb bars I 8 having teeth I! and the reenforcing filaments are directed to the comb from the feed rolls I 6 and I1 by a suitable guide 20 so that theteeth of the comb pass into the mass of reenforcing filaments or fibres and carry them towards the cotton or other fibrous sheet.

As indicated in the present instance of the invention the comb bars l8 are mounted upon an endless belt 2| which passes about the rollers 22 and 23, one at least of which is driven to impart to the comb a traveling movement towards the sheet of cotton fibre.

Mounted above the roller 8 about which the belt 6 passes is a pressure roller 24 which receives the reenforcing filaments or fibres as they are delivered from the comb, and in order that the reenforclng filaments or fibres may be attenuated or drawn out the rollers 8 and 24 rotate with a surface speed somewhat greater than the speed of the comb, the efiect being that while the comb teeth hold the reenforcing filaments and are moving such filaments towards the cotton sheet the filaments are attenuated or drawn out and thereupon delivered to the cotton sheet which also passes between the rollers 8 and 24; thus the reenforcing filaments or attenuated fibres are delivered to the fibrous cotton sheet and both thereupon pass on to the belt l3 of the camel back which feeds the two as a unit above the top of the camel back and on to the delivery belt I4 I as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5.

Extending between the rollers 25 and 26, Fig. 1, is the receiving conveyor 21 which in the present instance oi the invention is constituted as an endless belt, the upper run of which is given movement as indicated by the arrow, Fig. 1, by the driven roller 26. The rollers 25 and 26 may be appropriately supported upon the risers 28 and 29.

The camel back is operated as usual to impart t0 the delivery end portion thereof at 30 reciprocating movements back and forth over the receiving conveyor, with the result that the combined cotton sheet and reenforcements as a unit are laid in layers, one upon the other, in the formation of the composite reenforced bat.

Inasmuch as the receiving conveyor 21 is moved longitudinally as the delivery end of the camel back lays the cotton sheet and reenforcing filaments as a unit thereon, it follows that the thickness of the finished bat may be varied by changing the speed of the receiving conveyor 21 and moreover the reenforcing filaments or fibres 3| which have been applied to the cotton sheet will assume an angular relation to each other on adjacent layers of the reenforcements.

This is illustrated in Fig. 4; wherein it will be noted that the reenforcing filaments or fibres 3! are angularly related in adjacent layers of reenforcements and form substantially a diamond shaped relation with the reenforcements extended generally transversely to the longitudinal dimension of the bat.

It may be desirable in some instances to sub- Ject the bat to compression as it is delivered from the machine and this is indicated in Fig. 1 wherein the bat is delivered from the apron 21' and passes about a roller 32 and then between the nip of that roller and a roller 33. From the roller 33 the bat is delivered under the compression roller 34 so that the finished bat is consolidated to any desired extent suitable for its intended use.

Having reference to Fig. 3 it will be noted that the sheet I of cotton fibre and the reeniorcing filaments II are laid back and forth in super-,

posed layers with the result tbat'the composite reenforced bat presents a strengthened condition by reason of the reenforcements between the layers of the cotton sheet. A reenforced bat made in accordance with the present invention when used for mattress purposes, for instance, presents a cotton fibre structure which represents the elasticity desired and yet presents a strengthened and stabilized structure through which springs as commonly employed may not penetrate.

What is claimed is:-

1. In a machine for making a composite reenforced bat of fibrous material, the combination of a traveling conveyor for a soft fibrous sheet, feeding devices for i'eedingunspun reenforcing fibres of relatively long staple towards the fibrous sheet, means acting upon the long staple fibres to attenuate them and embed the attenuated long staple fibres into the soft fibrous sheet to strengthen and impart stability to the latter, and means acting upon the combined sheet and long staple fibres as a unit to form superposed layers thereof so that the long staple unspun fibres of one layer shall be at an angle to the long staple unspun fibres of the next adjacent layer in the production of the composite reenforced bat.

2. In a machine for making a composite reenforced cotton bat, the combination of a traveling conveyor for a fibrous cotton sheet, drawing and attenuating devices for relatively long staple reenforclng fibres constructed and arranged to progressively apply the attenuated fibres to and impress them into the material of the fibrous cotton sheet as the latter is moved by the conveyor, and a camel back for feeding and reciprocating the combined cotton sheet and reenforcing fibres as a unit in the production of superposed layers thereof to form the composite reenforced cotton bat.

3. In a machine for making a bat of fibrous material reenforced by longitudinally extending filaments, the combination of presser rolls, means for feeding a sheet of soft fibrous material to the nip of the rolls, means for feeding longitudinally extending filaments to the nip of the presser roll to cause the longitudinally extending filaments to be embedded into the sheet of soft fibrous ma.- terial as the two pass between the nip of the rolls together, a camel backmounted to swing about an axis below and adjacent to the presser rolls that it may receive the combined sheet of fibrous material and reenforcing filaments, and a receiving conveyor to receive the fibrous material and reenforcing filaments transversely of itself.

4. In a machine for making a bat of fibrous material reenforced by longitudinally extending unspun fibres of long staple, the combination of presser rolls, means for feeding a sheet of soft fibrous material to the nip of the rolls, means for feeding longitudinally extending unspun fibres to the nip longitudinally extending fibres to be embedded into the sheet of soft fibrous material asthe two pass between the nip of the rolls'together, a camel back mounted to swing about anaxis below and adjacent to the presser rolls that itniay receive the combined sheet of fibrous material and reenforcing unspun fibres, and a receiving conveyor to receive the fibrous material and reenforcing filaments transversely of itself.

- PATRICK 'I'. JACKSON.

of the presser rolls to cause the 

